Venice to the Veneto Hill Towns, Tuesday May 23rd
Trip Start
May 11, 2006
1
6
9
Trip End
May 29, 2006
Bassano Del Grappa,
Italy
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Tuesday I spent the day in the Veneto region on a tour with seven other people. It was with the same tour company I used for the walking tour and boat tour. It was a very nice day visiting the towns of Maristoca where they play the game of chess with people and horses in the piazza every two years, Bassano del Grappa, famous for its grappa, Asolo, the gem of the Veneto hill towns, Villa di Maser, built by Palladio; and lastly to the area where Prosecco is made.
We arrived in Maristoca on market day, which I was very pleased. My original plans were to take this tour on Sunday, but I was the only one booked for that day. I was asked by the tour company to switch to Tuesday. I purchased about 100 grams of Asiago cheese, which was delicious
In Bassano del Grappa
. Miriam, our tour guide gave us lots of information throughout the tour, although she had a rushed attitude. Plus I felt her driving, typical of the Italian drivers, was not necessary. With customer in the van, I think the drivers need to be a little more conservative with their driving. I loved Bassano del Grappa. I had seen this town on the travel channel and re-arranged my Itinerary to add the extra night in Venice so I could visit this beautiful town with its famous bridge. Some of the buildings near the bridge still have bullet holes from the war. There is a river crossing through it with the mountains in the distance. A few of us went into one grappa store and had a couple of tastes of the "fire water." Boy, did it warm me up!
In Asolo, we had a very good lunch at Al Bacaro. I had pasta with fresh white asparagus. Others had a polenta dish with mushroom and cheese; someone else had simple pasta with red sauce and another had a large mixed salad with tuna. Prices were very reasonable. After lunch, we had the opportunity to walk around each town for a short while.
I enjoyed our tour to the Villa di Maser. We had driven by a couple of other villas. The Veneto region is beautiful and I hope to return there and spend a week touring the area by car. Inside the villa everyone had to wear slippers, which reminded me of wearing the booties at the Palace in Hawaii.
Our last stop was to a prosecco winery, Ca Salina in Valdobbiadene. The owner, Gregorio Bortolin, gave us the opportunity to try the various prosecco he makes, which were excellent. I bought a bottle of the extra dry for just 4.8 euros.
It took 1.5 hours to get back Venice, as traffic to and from Venice is terrible. I headed back to my hotel after saying my goodbyes to everyone in the group.
Prior to dinner, I meet two women from Canada, Sharon and Audrey. Sharon found my postings on Fodors and wanted to meet for drinks at my hotel. I had only 20 minutes from getting back from the tour to meeting them. We had a nice chat and drinks for about 1/2 an hour and then I went inside my hotel for dinner. It was raining, so the out door terrace was closed.
I had a fabulous dinner at my hotel at their Ristorante La Piscina. I was tempted to dine there the next night, but they did make reservations for La Zucca. La Piscina serves two fixed menus (choosing two courses, dessert and a glass of wine) either 22 or 32 Euros for their hotel guests. Of course, the more expensive menu has the better choices. I had a wonderful dish of tagliatelle pasta (orange color - was it pumpkin?) with salmon in a light butter sauce and thin string beans. For my entrée I had duck medallions and a stuffed tomato (breadcrumbs) topped with Gorgonzola sauce. Dessert was vanilla gelato topped with sliced pears and amaretto. I could only eat half of it but it was unbelievable. Service was impeccable and I felt like I was dining in a 5-star restaurant.
Since it rained in the evening, I skipped my evening walk after dinner. That was fine, as I had a full day of touring and walking. I made a couple of phone calls to Tony and Mom and was in bed by 11pm.
